O’Donovan and Bakhurst set to meet amid row over RTÉ funding in budget
RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst held a meeting with Media Minister Patrick O’Donovan to discuss a €20 million shortfall in state funding. Both parties described the meeting as positive, though a final resolution on the budget remains pending.
Why it matters
The funding dispute impacts the operational stability of Ireland's national broadcaster and its ability to implement planned reforms.
RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst has described a meeting with Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan as “extremely constructive” after a row broke out over funding for the State broadcaster.
The meeting came after RTÉ was allocated €240 million in the budget, €20 million less than was expected under the terms of a deal with the last government.
Bakhurst and RTÉ board chairman Terence O’Rourke met O’Donovan for just over an hour on Thursday afternoon.
“We’ve agreed that we’re going to carry on working with his [O’Donovan’s] officials to try and find a resolution to this,” Bakhurst said afterwards.
He described the meeting as “very positive” and said RTÉ welcomed this, but insisted he would not be answering questions as the situation is “delicate enough”, adding: “We want this process to be properly carried out”.
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